Chapter 849

Emperor Chenghao, originally named Ning Jichen, was often addressed directly by the elders of the Ning clan.

Emperor Chenghao said, "I didn’t ask."

The elder of the Ning clan silently looked at him, the meaning in his eyes clear—urging him to quickly go and ask his son. Ning Yuzhou held a transcendent status in the Ning clan, and aside from Emperor Chenghao, no one dared to disturb him easily.

Curious, Emperor Chenghao also wanted to know, so he jumped down from his flying sword and entered the young beast carriage.

Inside the young beast carriage, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao sat opposite each other across a small table. Wen Qiao held a jade slip, deep in thought, while Ning Yuzhou was leisurely drawing talismans. The atmosphere between them was warm and natural.

Emperor Chenghao suddenly felt uneasy, realizing he was intruding, and finally understood why Shi Wuming had run away earlier.

As he entered, Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao looked up and inquired, "Father, come and sit. Is there something you need?"

Wen Qiao lifted the spiritual tea from the table and served a cup to her father-in-law.

"I have something to ask you," Emperor Chenghao said.

He sat on the other side of the small table, thanked Wen Qiao for the tea, and then asked, "Little Seven, what cultivation stage is Shi Wuming at?"

Ning Yuzhou glanced at him and replied, "Yuanzong stage."

"Yuanzong stage—" Emperor Chenghao was utterly shocked and couldn’t help but pick up the spiritual tea on the table and drink it all in one gulp.

Wen Qiao refilled his cup, and Emperor Chenghao kept drinking.

After downing half a pot of spiritual tea, Emperor Chenghao finally calmed down. "Perhaps Shi Wuming thought we were too slow and decided to leave on his own?"

Wen Qiao and Ning Yuzhou simply nodded, unconcerned about Shi Wuming. With his cultivation level, nothing in Dongling could harm him. Since he was bored, they let him wander around.

Seeing this, Emperor Chenghao stopped asking about Shi Wuming and instead asked, "By the way, where is Wen Tuti? Why isn’t he with us?"

Despite the earlier mix-up of mistaking Wen Tuti for his grandson, Emperor Chenghao still cared about him, as he was a child brought back by his son and daughter-in-law.

Ning Yuzhou remarked casually, "I had him stay at Lintai Mountain to tame all the young beasts in both Cangwu and Lintai Mountains."

Once again, Emperor Chenghao was shocked and stammered, "He’s just a child—no, what is his cultivation level now?"

His son wasn’t the type to irresponsibly send a child to battle the young beasts of Cangwu Mountain. It must be that Wen Tuti had the ability. Although he had never left Dongling, Emperor Chenghao knew that deep within Lintai Mountain, there were many sixth and seventh-tier young beasts, not to mention the backside of Cangwu Mountain, where even eighth and ninth-tier young beasts existed.

But hearing his son’s words, he had actually tasked Wen Tuti with taming the young beasts of both Cangwu and Lintai Mountains.

"Wen Tuti is a demon cultivator capable of shapeshifting," Wen Qiao said, continuing to pour tea for her shaken father-in-law to soothe his nerves.

Emperor Chenghao was speechless.

It took several pots of tea before Emperor Chenghao finally settled down, then left with a belly full of tea.

Wen Qiao glanced at her father-in-law’s bulging belly and remarked to Ning Yuzhou, "Father is just at the early Yuanmai stage. Could all that tea make his belly burst?"

Ning Yuzhou chuckled, "Then why did you keep refilling his cup?"

"It’s spiritual tea," Wen Qiao replied, "and he seemed really shaken, so he needed something to soothe his nerves."

Ning Yuzhou chuckled at her confident reply.

He looked at the beautiful face of the girl across from him and said gently, "Father’s cultivation level really needs to be improved."

Over the years, as they cultivated in the Central Continent, they relied on Qian Lin to send back cultivation resources. With the resources Ning Yuzhou provided, Emperor Chenghao had managed to reach the late Yuanwu stage. Without proper techniques or guidance, relying solely on his own exploration, it was remarkable that he had reached the Yuanmai stage at his current age.

This time, Ning Yuzhou planned to stay in Dongling for an extended period. First, to assess the talents of the cultivators in Dongling, and second, to guide his father in his cultivation.

---

Emperor Chenghao, unaware that he was about to be guided in cultivation by his son, left with a stomach full of tea and was immediately summoned by the elders of the Ning clan.

The elder quickly asked, "Jichen, did you find out?"

Emperor Chenghao nodded gravely and sent a voice transmission to the elder.

Instantly, the elder of the Ning clan nearly fell from his flying sword because his spiritual energy hadn't circulated in time.

Seeing the elder's reaction, Emperor Chenghao felt a bit comforted, realizing he wasn't the only one who needed to steady his nerves.

Moreover, he hadn't yet told the elder that Wen Tuti was a demon cultivator capable of shapeshifting. If they knew, they would probably fall to the ground right now.

However, Emperor Chenghao had no intention of revealing Wen Tuti's identity to the Ning clan members, letting them think that Wen Tuti was just a child kindly taken in by Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao.

A few days later, the large group finally returned to the imperial city.

Wen Qiao looked out from the beast-drawn carriage and found that the imperial city remained unchanged from her memories, despite their absence for over a decade. At the towering city gates, ordinary people lined up peacefully to enter, while cultivators entered through a separate gate, clearly separating the paths for ordinary people and cultivators, which also served as a form of protection for the ordinary people.

After the large group entered the city, the Ning clan members went straight to the imperial palace. The disciples of other families watched the Ning clan members leave before heading back to their own homes.

That night, the lights in every family residence, large and small, in the imperial city stayed on until dawn.

Ning Yuzhou and Wen Qiao returned to the Seventh Prince's mansion.

As Emperor Chenghao's most beloved son, even though he had been away from Dongling for many years, the Seventh Prince's mansion was still well-maintained and hadn't fallen into disrepair despite the absence of its master.

When the two returned to the Seventh Prince's mansion, they were welcomed with hot meals and warm, fragrant beds, and they only had to open their mouths for food and extend their hands for clothes.

The steward of the mansion was still the same, though now very old.

The steward, leading the servants, bowed excitedly to the two masters, his eyes red, as if he might burst into tears at any second.

"No need for formalities," Ning Yuzhou waved his hand, and the group was unable to kneel.

Forced to rise, everyone grew even more excited, knowing that their prince was indeed capable of cultivation now, and his cultivation level was not low, otherwise he wouldn't be able to lift them with just a wave of his hand.