60: Chapter 60: Recognizing Relatives and Leveraging Power – A Shocking Situation

The heavily armored guard came very quickly.

In a few moments, the entire narrow alley was blocked off completely.

The leader of the armored guards had a cultivation at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, and as his gaze swept over, it felt as cold and hard as molten iron being poured down.

"Present your travel permit, identification badge, and affiliated trading company."

Lu Changyuan did not resist in the slightest and first handed over the temporary badge of the Changyuan Trading Company.

The armored guard leader took one look, but his brow did not relax.

"There is more."

Only then did Lu Changyuan raise his hand to adjust his cuffs.

The next moment, he revealed the true identity token of the direct line.

A purple-gold cloud pattern flashed.

The armored guard leader's originally tense expression changed instantly.

The few guard Cultivators behind him subconsciously fell silent all at once.

"The main line of the Lu family?"

The leader stared at the token for a moment, then looked at Lu Changyuan and asked in a deep voice: "Which branch of the Lu family are you a Young Master of, Your Excellency?"

Lu Changyuan said calmly: "The Yunzhou main line, Lu Changyuan."

"I am carrying out a land-opening order from my family to trade in the Outer Sea, and I entered the market today solely for business."

"If military regulations require verification, I will naturally cooperate."

The armored guard leader's Adam's apple moved slightly, and his attitude immediately lost its edge.

"Please wait a moment."

After saying this, he immediately spoke a few words in a low voice using a communication talisman.

In less than a dozen breaths, the talisman light returned with a message.

After the leader finished reading it, his gesture of cupping his hands became much more standard.

"Young Master Lu, please follow me."

"Someone from above wants to see you."

Lu Changyuan's mind raced, but his expression remained calm.

"Lead the way."

All the way inside, the route was filled with armored soldiers and sealing talisman lines.

The outer layer of the Xingyan Grand Market was still chaotic, but the middle layer and above were already tightly controlled.

Lu Changyuan was led all the way into a high pavilion near the sea in the inner city.

The guards outside the high pavilion were no longer ordinary market guards, but true military elites.

When he stepped into the pavilion, an aura of pressure, far thicker than when Luo Qingcheng had not yet recovered, pressed down on him first.

Only one person was sitting in the hall.

It was a woman in black-gold battle armor.

She looked to be only in her thirties, with sharp brows and eyes, cold white skin, and a very casual sitting posture, like a long saber thrust into a military tent.

A long spear with an aura that hadn't been fully restrained lay beside the table, and the Spiritual Pressure of ocean tides faintly rose and fell on the spear tip.

Golden Core.

And definitely not the kind of Golden Core who practices in seclusion.

She was a powerful figure who had guarded the Outer Sea for years and was accustomed to having blood on her hands.

The woman raised her eyes to look at Lu Changyuan.

With just this one glance, there was a measure of scrutiny, impatience, and undisguised anger.

"You are the boy from the Yunzhou main line?"

Lu Changyuan's heart stirred, and having vaguely guessed her identity, he immediately cupped his hands.

"Junior Lu Changyuan greets you, Senior."

The woman gave a cold snort.

"According to seniority, you should call me Ninth Great Aunt."

As expected.

Lu Changyuan immediately changed his address: "Junior greets Ninth Great Aunt."

The woman was none other than Lu Qingyao, a powerful Elder from the Lu family's main line who was stationed in the Outer Sea.

She looked Lu Changyuan up and down, her expression still not softening.

"You have quite some nerve."

"The Outer Sea is in such chaos, yet you still dared to bring a caravan all the way to Xingyan."

Lu Changyuan's tone was calm.

"Only in chaos can there be business."

"If we only shrink back to the island and guard it, Blue Moon Island will sooner or later be besieged to death."

Upon hearing this, Lu Qingyao gave him an extra look.

"Blue Moon Island?"

"Is that the new island you've been making such a fuss about recently?"

"I heard you even picked up a Golden Core Sword Cultivator from the Heavenly Star Sect."

Lu Changyuan was not surprised.

For a high-level figure of the main line like Lu Qingyao, who was stationed in the Outer Sea, it would be abnormal if she didn't know about such matters.

"Yes."

"Just luck."

Lu Qingyao scoffed.

"Stop acting humble with me."

"To be able to wager your last bit of divine medicine on a dying Golden Core and actually manage to bring them back to life—this is not something an ordinary person could do."

Her words were aggressive, but there was no malice in her eyes.

It was more like she was looking at a Junior who was daring enough to defy the heavens and yet had won the gamble.

Lu Changyuan felt reassured.

This kinship, it seemed, had been successfully recognized.

He did not rush to continue the conversation.

Instead, he flipped his hand to take out the Star-Shining Cross Emblem he had just obtained, and presented it with both hands.

"Junior came in a rush and did not prepare any proper meeting gift."

"Just now, by a stroke of luck, I obtained this token."

"Junior has heard that Ninth Great Aunt guards the Outer Sea and frequently deals with various factions; in Junior's hands, this item is merely a thin layer of face."

"If Ninth Great Aunt does not mind, Junior is willing to offer flowers to Buddha."

The hall fell silent.

Even the two personal guards standing to the side raised their eyes.

Lu Qingyao narrowed her eyes slightly.

"The Star-Shining Cross Emblem of the Witch Star Pavilion?"

She reached out with a grab, took the token into her hand, examined it closely for two breaths, and her expression finally changed.

It was not surprise.

But blatant satisfaction.

"You kid, you certainly know how to give gifts."

Lu Qingyao finally curled the corner of her mouth.

"I have been worrying lately that the channel with the Witch Star Pavilion was missing a key, and you, well, you ran right into it and brought back the ticket."

She looked at Lu Changyuan, and the faint care for her own Junior that was originally in her eyes finally gained a bit of genuine closeness.

"Fine."

"I accept this gift."

"From today on, you can use my name, Lu Qingyao, here in Xingyan."

"If anyone doesn't have eyes, come directly to me."

As these words fell, it was equivalent to placing a layer of truly effective protection over Lu Changyuan's head.

It was heavier than a dead token.

Lu Changyuan immediately cupped his hands: "Thank you, Ninth Great Aunt."

Lu Qingyao waved her hand, but then her expression sank again.

"Since you gave me this gift, I will not take it for nothing."

"The sealing of the market and military control today is no small matter."

"The sky of the Outer Sea is about to change."

When she reached this point, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became heavy.

"The Deep Sea Royal Clan going crazy is not to seize territory."

"The massacre of the Blood Shark Pirates is not simply to establish authority."

"The things sealed under the sea have started to leak."

Lu Changyuan's gaze tightened, but he did not interrupt.

Lu Qingyao continued, her voice pressed very low, yet every word carried the weight of iron.

"It is not an ordinary demon disaster."

"It is the Abyss Demon."

"More accurately, it is the Devilish Qi of an Abyss Demon within some ancient seal at the bottom of the sea that is seeping out."

"Sea monsters and sea clans, once they touch it, their minds will become chaotic, their ferocity will rise, and over time, they will even turn into half-devil, half-monster creatures."

"The Deep Sea Royal Clan knows better than anyone what it means once this thing spreads, which is why they are sealing the sea, searching paths, and clearing out those factions that know too much or might be involved."

Hearing this, the many fragmented threads in Lu Changyuan's mind were finally twisted into a single strand.

Abnormal movements on the perimeter of the Dragon King Palace.

Contaminated sea monsters.

The frantic path-searching of the Deep Sea Royal Clan.

Everything matched up.

Lu Qingyao looked at him, her tone cooling a few degrees further.

"This matter has not yet been completely laid out in the open."

"But by the end of the year at the latest, there will definitely be a major conscription in the Outer Sea."

"It is not just our Lu family."

"The Zhenhai Army, Immortal Cities, several major Sects, and every capable faction in the Outer Sea will be dragged into it."

"When that time comes, it will be useless for anyone to hide."

"Your Blue Moon Island is on the edge of the near sea, and having just emerged, it is destined to be unavoidable."

Lu Changyuan nodded slowly.

"Junior understands."

"It is good that you understand," Lu Qingyao said coldly, "Don't think that just because you picked up a Golden Core Guest Elder and saved up some family wealth, you can comfortably do business in the Outer Sea."

"What follows is not a competition of who earns the fastest."

"It is about who survives first when the chaotic sea comes crashing down."

After saying this, she raised her hand and tossed over a military pass token.

"Take it."

"From tonight until your caravan leaves Xingyan, the Outer Port, inner checkpoint, and patrol defenses will all recognize this token."

"Consider it me, as your Elder, suppressing the situation for you once more."

Lu Changyuan took the pass token and cupped his hands again.

"Junior will remember Ninth Great Aunt's words today."

Lu Qingyao nodded, and did not keep him any longer.

"Get out."

"Take your people and goods, and while you can still leave, hurry back to your Blue Moon Island."

Lu Changyuan turned and left the high pavilion.

By the time he went all the way out of the military command, the night was already deep.

The blockade over the Xingyan Grand Market had not yet been completely lifted, and patrolling spirit boats came and went, like a slowly tightening net.

But his heart was steadier than it was before he came in.

Exchanging the Star-Shining Cross Emblem for this layer of solid protection from Lu Qingyao was not a loss.

And the truth about the Abyss Demon leaking was even more worthwhile.

From today on, the direction for Blue Moon Island's subsequent war preparations was completely set.

It was not just to defend against an ordinary beast tide.

But to defend against a great chaos that would drag the entire Outer Sea into it.

Lu Changyuan looked up toward the direction of Blue Moon Island, his eyes growing deeper.

At the same moment.

The waters on the outer edge of Blue Moon Island.

Night fog crawled slowly along the surface of the sea.

Several sea beasts that should only have been active in deeper ocean trenches had, at some unknown time, quietly snuck up near the warning line outside the island.

Wisps of black Qi were seeping from the gaps in their scales.

Their eyes were turbid.

Their breathing, however, was exceptionally irritable.

The leading sea beast raised its head and opened its mouth silently, and between its fangs, a wisp of black saliva carrying a rotten, fishy smell faintly dripped down.

The next instant, it slammed its head into the warning Array Pattern on the perimeter of Blue Moon Island.