Song Guanyu's eyes flashed with hope, seeing it in the fact that Wu Long has technically punished them with Song Duo's death.
"D-daoist Wu! This cousin of mine has truly-..."
The Imperial Prince started speaking with a troubled look, as if lamenting his relative's behavior.
Meanwhile Wu Long's gaze scanned the crowd, no longer caring about the sobbing pair of Imperial Descendants, and completely ignoring Song Guanyu's existence.
His eyes then stopped on a veiled figure in white clothes, stained with mud.
"Haha, I knew that it was you, from the moment you talked about Her Highness' bloodline being the testament of your 'noble ancestry' back then.
I knew you were behind the line of descent that kept its purity within the Song Dynasty"
His words caused Song Guanyu to shut up as he suddenly understood that Wu Long's attention was not on him entirely.
Wu Long's tone subtly shifted from when he talked to Feng Yi before, losing the warm notes completely as even the light chuckle sounded a bit cold.
What he said made the Imperial Prince widen his eyes and caused Feng Yi to recall that there was one member of Azure Eagles who was the most concerned about Song Lingfei's treatment back when they met in Tingren Kingdom.
"It seems there is no use for this now..."
The veiled man grabbed the white cloth covering his face and tore it off, revealing a face Feng Yi recognized.
"...You figured it out, congratulations!
But so what? You make it sound as if controlling a branch of our own descendants is somehow a problem"
The Azure Eagle spoke with narrowed silver eyes, shouting over the sound of the raging storm.
The instinctual feeling of fear he felt moments before Wu Long's arrival subsiding as he did not seem to detect any threat to himself from this man.
'Heh, it looked flashy, but that's all there is to it'
He thought as he looked at Wu Long.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe could clearly see this human's movements just now, and while it was something Song Duo stood no chance against either in speed or the power of attack, he was confident it was no threat to himself.
And while the speed with which he arrived here truly was astonishing, there was a huge difference between travel movement techniques, and combat movement techniques.
Even if Wu Long held back spower, he believed it could not be much higher than what he saw, as 'everyone knew' there were limitations on what a Mortal could do.
Thus, he shifted his thinking.
He did not fear Wu Long himself now, but could easily see how this human could leverage this situation to threaten him with the might of others.
For example, the unknown Sword Master who was currently in the city.
Thus his highest priority right now was to absolve himself of any suspicions.
"I wouldn't say that's the problem.
You may misunderstand what is happening.
See, you went behind the backs of others to try and cause a problem with me"
Wu Long spoke calmly, not rushing anywhere.
"Cause a problem with you? Haha, now, what might you be talking about?"
The Azure Eagle made a nonchalant face, attempting to play a fool, feign ignorance and sweep everything as a misunderstanding.
After all, he might have intimidated General Feng and the others a little, but that was no cause for him to be implicated in any wrongdoing here.
"Haha, as I said, you misunderstand my intentions in saying all this.
But that aside, let's continue.
You knew that Her Highness has been cured.
You knew because the cultivation method she was using in the past, the method all of the Song Family members practice that stems from the legacy you gave them, is a Dependency Technique.An insurance on the part of the Azure Eagles I guess, in case your descendants tried to rebel.
But as soon as she started practicing the methods I gave her, and restructuring her past cultivation, she started erasing your Dependency Technique, which I guess you could feel through the Source Technique.
But since she could cultivate, it meant her problem has been resolved, and she was cured"
Wu Long chuckled as the Azure Eagle's eyes widened with surprise.
"Hooh~, it seems you are not as simple as you look.
You know what Dependency Techniques are..."
The Azure Eagle spoke as the remaining members of the Imperial Family had a bad feeling about the information being revealed, even if they did not know what he was talking about.
"...but how does that lead to causing problems with you? I just wanted to check her condition"
He then added, still arguing that his presence here did not constitute any problem.
"Hmm, let's try another angle.
Have you not wondered why I didn't erase that 'pure blood' descendant of yours when I was in the Capital of the Azure Eagle Empire?"
Wu Long suddenly decided to shift topic, as the silver eyes of the Spiritual Beast reflecting distant lightning narrowed.
It was true that Wu Long had the chance to get rid of Song Guanyu before.
Even if that would have slightly soured his relationship with the Song Dynasty, the other Azure Eagles would not have moved for just one descendant, just like they did not move when Wu Long threatened the members of the Imperial Family.
"You didn't feel threatened by him?"
The Azure Eagle finally made a guess after a long pause in which only the sounds of wind, rain and distant thunder filled the dark plains.
He did not know where Wu Long's conversation led, but a slightly uncomfortable feeling started to well up within him, prompting him to continue engaging even if he did not see where it led.
"Hahaha, of course I didn't, but I was at the very least annoyed.
The thing is, I knew he wasn't the source of Her Highness' troubles, and that eliminating him would not make her safe... no, the source of her troubles was you"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWu Long lightly laughed, shaking his head while the Azure Eagle's eyes revealed a surprised and slightly impressed look.
"You were the one that coveted her Innate Yin Qi, you were the one who wanted that pure bloodline of your ancestors, the Great Void Eagle.
But there was a catch, the other Azure Eagles would not allow you to do as you please. You couldn't get something you so desperately wanted.
And that is when the faction of the Song Family you controlled cin handy.
You tried to make it seem that Song Guanyu would be the one to obtain the pure bloodline and together with Her Highness produce a worthy descendant, perhaps perpetuating the bloodline of the Great Void Eagle, an idea that other Azure Eagles could get behind.
But once she was in Song Guanyu's hands, the one to obtain her Pure Yin Qi would have been you"
Wu Long explained as Song Guanyu's eyes gradually widened along the eyes of the other Imperial Family Members, slowly turning to their ancestor.
"...
Impressive, to be able to figure all that out, truly impressive. But so what?"
As the words fell from his Grand Ancestor's lips, Song Guanyu's face was filled with shock.
The feeling of being betrayed filled him as he finally understood he was a pawn to deceive other Azure Eagle ancestors, likely discarded along with Song Lingfei as soon as the goal was achieved.
"Well, letgive you the first hint of where all this conversation leads.
I didn't kill your descendant because he wasn't the root cause, and since eliminating him would have forced you to pick another pawn.
And I obviously couldn't remove the root cause because at the tI did not have thenecessary strength to do it without overexerting myself.
But even as I approached the point at which I could face you, you were among the other Azure Eagles, and attacking you there would have truly meant a war with them, which I would not want"
Wu Long's lips then curled up in a cold smile, as his eyes flashed with electric arcs, and a lightning within the clouds above lit the skies.
*Rumble! Rumble!*
"You mean to say..."
The Spiritual Beast raised his eyebrows as a realization started to dawn on him.
"I wouldn't say I orchestrated it, but I indeed hoped you would try and take advantage of the perfect opportunity as all circumstances were leading to this"
Wu Long's smiling face as he said this was half-lit by a flash of lightning to the side, as thunder rumbled through the surroundings.