"She's the daughter of Cousin Yuanzhen?" Li Zhiqiu was surprised to hear it.
This wasn’t all that unexpected as Li Yuanzhen had multiple wives. Naturally, he had quite a number of sons and daughters. However, the only ones who had been acknowledged officially were Li Hongque and Li Hongli. He had never seen or heard about Li Hongyou.
Li Foluo frowned as he listened to their conversation. “So Li Hongyou is Li Yuanzhen's daughter? Why does she want to join the Dragon's Fang Guardians? The Dragon's Blood Guardians will surely make a mountain out of a molehill over this matter.”
At this point, a light flashed through Li Zhiqiu's eyes and he smiled warmly at Li Hongyou. "So you're a member of our family, Niece Hongyou. Come, I’ll take you home now. Hongque and Hongli are both in the Dragon's Blood Guardians. I will pa.s.s the message to Cousin Yuanzhen. He'll surely be excited to hear about you."
This was truly a pleasant surprise. Originally, he thought that Li Luo had brought back two pieces of good news for the Dragon's Fang Guardians. Who would have expected that one of them was related to the Dragon's Blood Lineage?
Although Li Hongyou was not as impressive as Jiang Qing'e, she was still in the later stages of the Greater Heavenly Resonance Tier. She was just a step away from the Duke Stage and had the lower ninth-grade Crimson Heart Vermilion Fruit resonance. This made her far superior to her peers.
Li Hongyou looked back at them with an emotionless face. "My mother and I cut all relations with Li Yuanzhen after we left the Dragon's Blood Lineage. We are no longer family."
Everyone was stunned to hear this. Even Li Foluo and Li Fengyi looked at her in shock. There must have been a story behind all this that they were unaware of.
Li Zhiqiu frowned. "Hongyou, what are you saying? You're the daughter of Cousin Yuanzhen. This is a fact that can't be changed."
Then his tone got a little softer as he continued, "I don't know what happened to you over the years, but it's completely natural for you to feel angry. Don't worry, I'll bring Cousin Yuanzhen over and he will surely compensate you for your hards.h.i.+ps."
Li Hongyou's eyes turned icy when she heard that name. Her mouth twitched a little and she smiled mockingly. "I'll give it a second thought if he can bring back my mother, who died from overworking."
Li Zhiqiu was at a loss for words. He understood very well that the relations.h.i.+p between Li Hongyou and Li Yuanzhen was essentially toxic.
As such, he looked over at Li Hongli.
Her heart froze when she heard what Li Hongyou had just said. She could faintly recall Li Hongyou's mother. She could remember how pathetic she looked in front of her own mother.
She had not expected Li Hongyou's mother to have pa.s.sed away.
Her eyes were full of complex emotions. She was young back then, so she had never bullied Li Hongyou and her mother. However, her sister and mother had never treated them properly.
Li Hongli tried to persuade her. "Sister Hongyou, come to the Dragon's Blood Guardians with me. Let bygones be bygones. You know about Father's and Sister's tempers. If they learn that you have joined the Dragon's Fang Guardians, they will be extremely mad."
However, Li Hongyou simply stared at her. She slowly replied, "Why do you think I've decided to join the Dragon's Fang Guardians?"
Li Hongli was stunned. Of course, Li Hongyou knew about Li Yuanzhen and Li Hongque's bad temper. However, Li Hongyou had still decided to join the Dragon's Fang Guardians. She was clearly doing it as an act of revenge.
She wanted to borrow the influence of the Dragon's Fang Guardians to get back at them for the years of bullying.
It was an attack against them.
At this point, Li Hongli sighed in her heart. With her understanding of Li Hongque's temper, she could not imagine how mad she would get once she learned about this matter.
Li Hongque was a proud and arrogant one. Since young, she had looked down on Li Hongyou and her mother. She had never thought of Li Hongyou as a sister.
Looking at how stubborn Li Hongyou was being, Li Zhiqiu's face gradually darkened. "Li Hongyou, don't be unruly. You are part of the Dragon's Blood Lineage—that is an undeniable fact. According to the rules of the Heavenly Dragon's Five Lineages, you will need the Dragon's Blood Lineage's approval if you want to join the Dragon's Fang Guardians."
Then he looked at Li Foluo. "Li Foluo, you should know the significance of this matter. As the inspector of this place, I will tell you now. You are not allowed to let Li Hongyou join the Dragon's Fang Guardians without the consent of the Dragon's Blood Lineage. If you do, you'll bear all consequences for your actions."
Li Foluo frowned when he heard this. If he tried to stop this, things would get a lot more troublesome.
As Li Foluo was contemplating, Li Luo's voice suddenly came from the back. "Li Zhiqiu, don't try to scare us off with the Dragon's Blood Lineage. The Lineage Chief of the Dragon's Fang Lineage has approved of Li Hongyou joining the Dragon's Fang Guardians. Are you telling us to disobey our Lineage Chief and listen to you, an inspector?"
Li Zhiqiu's face turned gloomy. "Li Luo, you still have to address me as ‘Uncle’ based on our seniority! How dare you call me by my name directly! Is this how the Dragon's Fang Lineage teaches its children?"
Seeing him throwing his seniority around, Li Luo immediately sneered and replied, "When we are both at work, you should address me by my position! I am the Hall Master of the Green Nether Hall. Do I have to lower myself to greet an inspector like you?"
Li Zhiqiu was fuming at this point. This brat was brandis.h.i.+ng his position of Hall Master as a weapon. Although he was young, he held a higher position; this was truly frustrating.
Li Luo laughed out coldly. "If you have any objections, you can ask Li Yuanzhen or your Lineage Chief to go speak with my Lineage Chief directly. The Dragon's Fang Guardians will not take orders from anyone else."
Li Zhiqiu's face was completely pale. "Are you trying to worsen the relations.h.i.+p between the Dragon's Blood Guardians and the Dragon's Fang Guardians?"
"What a joke! Do you expect us to go against our Lineage Chief because of your words? What do you think we are?" Li Luo reb.u.t.ted without backing down.
"This matter is out of your hands. You should keep yourself out of it!"
Li Zhiqiu laughed angrily. "Excellent... Just wait and see! The Dragon's Blood Lineage will not let this slide." He knew it was pointless to argue any further, so he waved his sleeve, and a huge amount of resonant power surged up, dragging Li Hongli and the others away with him.
After Li Zhiqiu and the rest had left, Li Foluo and Li Fengyi took a look at each other. They had no idea that Li Luo would start an argument with Li Zhiqiu and the Dragon's Blood Lineage right after coming to the Dragon's Fang Guardians.
"Hall Master Li Luo, you've certainly brought us quite a bit of trouble," Li Foluo said.
Li Luo smiled. "Guardian General Li Foluo, you wouldn't want to hand such a talented person over to the Dragon's Blood Guardians, right?"
Li Foluo shook his head. "I definitely welcome her. However, Li Zhiqiu will definitely create a ruckus out of it. Besides, the Guardian General of the Dragon's Blood Guardians, Li Zhihuo, is his brother. Our groups will definitely not get along moving forward."
"Did we get along well in the past?" Li Luo asked.
"Not really," Li Foluo replied.
"You just need to accept us into the army. I will handle all the other matters. Besides, this is something my grandfather has agreed to. If the Dragon's Blood Lineage wants to argue over it, they will have to bring it up to him directly."
"Since the Lineage Chief has agreed, we will follow accordingly," Li Foluo said.
Li Luo nodded. He then turned around to take a look at Li Hongyou, who was clenching her fists tightly. He told her in a serious tone, "Senior Hongyou, don't worry about it. No one can take you away from the Dragon's Fang Guardians. I can promise you that."
Li Hongyou looked back at him with eyes of grat.i.tude and nodded lightly.
Following this, they did not hang around any longer. They flew into the sky, and after an hour or so, a majestic and huge mountain came into view.
They had arrived at Heavenly Dragon Peak.
A long and awe-inspiring range of mountains sprouted from the ground like a coiling dragon. The mountains were full of steep peaks that reminded one of the intertwining fangs of a dragon, extending as far as the eye could see.
In the middle of the mountain range was a gigantic peak that towered above the rest and pierced the skies. On it was a majestic city that shone like a heavenly palace.
Streams of light arose from its core and formed a huge layer of light that covered the entirety of Heavenly Dragon Peak like clouds. From afar, it resembled a dragon's scales, continuously flowing with piercing light.
Energy undulations could be felt from the layer of clouds, and even a high-grade Duke seemed insignificant when compared to it.
Clearly, the entirety of Heavenly Dragon Peak was covered by a terrifying defensive ward!
When Heavenly Dragon Peak appeared in Li Luo's field of view, Li Fengyi excitedly gave a quick rundown to the three newcomers.