341: The housekeeper's little tricks

Actually, his appearance wasn't much of an issue, but the problem was that he couldn't fully conceal the Xuanhuang Aura on his body. According to the Heavenly Eye, Xuanhuang Aura is a powerful type of Innate Qi in the Cultivation World and a treasure coveted by many Cultivators. In the Cultivation World, if any Mortal kingdom shows signs of Innate Qi like the Xuanhuang Aura, it might be plundered by Cultivators. Only by practicing the Breath Concealment Technique of the Cultivation World can one conceal it to an extent; generally, one must reach the Perfect Realm or above to fully absorb it.

Although he now possessed the Divine Sense of a Soul Master at the Middle Stage or higher, since he hadn't practiced the Breath Concealment Technique, he could only hide about three-quarters of it. One-quarter was still exposed, and his Xuanhuang Aura was so dense that even a quarter of it would make anyone who noticed it think he was a god among men!

Because of this, his appearance combined with the Xuanhuang Aura made it nearly impossible to keep his secrets from those Great Ming Seniors. This was currently his biggest weakness.

And this weakness had been rapidly magnified after his fame in the Music Dao had spread!

He estimated that people in all the bases across Great Ming could now see his image and performances and hear the songs he sang. As his fans grew increasingly frantic, their elders would also pay more attention to him. Those old foxes would likely discover his secret with just a little scrutiny!

Long Yuan didn't care much about the likes or dislikes of his fans, nor would he deliberately cater to them. However, what Xu Ruoying had just mentioned served as a reminder: he was likely already exposed to the powerful figures of Great Ming... Besides private forces, the most likely to notice him were members of the Great Ming Imperial Family—the princes vying for the throne and their children, his own generation or those above and below. Their intuition regarding him would surely be sharper. For instance, Prince Dai had directly demanded he go to Shuntian Prefecture for school and join his Shidai Tianyin Company as a star; he must have recognized him... Xu Ruoying had also tested him at the beginning. He remembered he hadn't flatly denied it then, because a strenuous denial would be like a guilty man protesting too much. It was better not to explain or respond at all.

"Fortunately, I've finally grown strong enough that I don't need to worry so much!" Long Yuan gave himself a boost of confidence. Having already reached the Breakthrough to the Martial King Realm, his combat power could suppress a Heavenly God; there was nothing to fear.

"What, are you speechless?" Xu Ruoying said triumphantly from the side.

"Hehe, what should I say? Their minds belong to them; I can't control what they think! But no matter what they think, I won't perform according to their expectations. Whatever I want to sing, say, or do comes from my own will, and it might greatly exceed their expectations. As for whether it affects the profits of Market Department Three, I can't be bothered with that!" Long Yuan said with a faint smile.

"You?! That won't do! So many people in our Market Department Three are supporting you with everything they have. You can't do anything outrageous to make things difficult for them, can you? Everyone's livelihood depends on you!" Xu Ruoying said hurriedly.

"Don't worry, I understand that! I wouldn't intentionally offend my fans. After all, they follow me out of love. If I were to offend them, wouldn't that be like shooting myself in the foot?"

"As long as you understand!" Xu Ruoying breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly difficult to handle; as Long Yuan's fame grew, she had to coax him when she spoke, no longer able to be as unrestrained as before. Otherwise, if the relationship soured, there would be trouble. As she just said, everyone in Market Department Three was relying on Long Yuan for their livelihood, and as the manager, she couldn't hold everyone back... Then she heard Long Yuan say: "Sister Ying, when Justin was performing in Shuntian Prefecture, did you notice if he had any little maneuvers in secret?"

"No. Their performance in Shuntian Prefecture was a collaboration with three other entertainment companies, not with our Shidai Tianyin Company. I was only invited as a guest... Oh, right, didn't I tell you before? His butler invited me to dinner and even visited our Shidai Tianyin Company! Later, he asked me to take him to the Tiangong Group for a day-long visit..." Xu Ruoying mused.

"Did that butler make any requests?"

"He mainly just confirmed the cooperation between you and him! As for other things... Hmm, he seemed quite interested in the cloud cabins and the Cloud Challenge Competition that Great Ming recently launched and wanted to go to the Tiangong Group to learn more. After I contacted Prince Zhao, he agreed to let me take them there for a day's visit!"

"Besides the cloud cabins, what about other things?"

"What, are you interested in the cloud cabins and other things too? I think I heard Prince Dai mention that Prince Zhao intended for you to join his Tiangong Group, but Prince Dai flatly refused!"

"This... did the butler and the others visit any other products?"

"Yes, the people from Tiangong Group took them to experience everything. I wasn't going to follow them around acting all crazy..." Xu Ruoying said disdainfully.

Hearing this, Long Yuan shook his head inwardly. It was just as he had judged before. He had just learned through Divine Sense monitoring of the conversation between Justin and the butler that a primary mission of Justin's trip was to spy on the secrets of the Tiangong Group, especially its flagship products. Yet, the people of Tiangong Group had let the butler and his group in to visit without any defenses, even accompanying them with introductions. Wasn't that like inviting a wolf into the house!

For that visit, the butler and his subordinates had equipped themselves with countless secret filming and eavesdropping tools, stealing the appearance and characteristics of many products, and they didn't even pass over the product manuals... Long Yuan could imagine that the people of Tiangong Group must be like Xu Ruoying, thinking those people were just from the entertainment industry, visiting just to see the sights and broaden their horizons because of the group's reputation, not realizing they were the biggest fish in the other party's eyes!

Letting them in for a single visit might come at a cost greater than one could imagine... Given Long Yuan's understanding of Justin's and the butler's methods, the interior of the Tiangong Group might already be filled with many small eavesdropping and filming devices. Some important locations might even be broadcast live!

Such methods were no trouble at all for the Snow Eagle Country.

But... this might not be a bad thing for him!

Long Yuan's thoughts shifted. He felt that the Snow Eagle Country targeting the Tiangong Group was equivalent to them concentrating their attention there. This way, they certainly wouldn't notice his Sinkhole Base...