Protect Our Patriarch

……

At that moment, the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle squeezed out a few sorrowful old tears.

As a Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle with an ordinary bloodline, it had once experienced many glorious moments.

For instance, it had followed the clan into critical battles and earned great merits. It had also served as a means of transportation, carrying the mistress through dangerous outer regions, and had repeatedly acted as her mount, conquering all directions with unmatched prestige.

It had even once seized the magical weapon of Wang's Clan's greatest enemy, earning significant military achievements for the clan.

Of course, it knew that with the clan's overall strength continuously growing and the increasing internal competition, its meager abilities were no longer sufficient.

Thus, it had always diligently served as a mount, dutifully attending to generations of young masters and mistresses. Watching them grow up on its back every day and gradually become influential figures who could shake the world with a stomp of their foot.

Whenever it thought of this, the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle felt an immense sense of pride and satisfaction, as if watching its own children spread their wings and soar into the sky.

But now, was it really going to end up as breakfast for the next generation's clan guardian spiritual beast?

Wuwu~ Wasn't it just that this old turtle ate a bit more and grew a bit fatter? Wouldn't it be enough if it voluntarily reduced its daily food intake from now on?

The old turtle looked pitifully at Wang Anye, the seventh young master, hoping he would stand up for it.

"Stop." Wang Anye, who usually respected the old turtle, immediately stood in front of the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle. "Aunt Lilong, Grandpa Turtle is our Wang Clan's guardian spiritual beast, not your breakfast."

"Guardian spiritual beast?" Wang Lilong, in her mini dragon form, was momentarily stunned, but then burst into laughter, her dragon whiskers flying. "This low-bloodline Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle is worthy of being our Wang Clan's guardian spiritual beast?"

"With me guarding the Wang Clan in the future, there's no need for such a low-level spiritual beast. Fat Turtle, just obediently become my breakfast." With that, she bared her teeth and claws, and a vast Azure Dragon's pressure descended upon the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle.

The Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle trembled all over, tears streaming down its face in fear.

"Great-grandfather said you're not allowed to reveal your true form at will, or you'll burst the clothes Great-grandmother gave you." Wang Anye's eyes sharpened as he formed a sword seal. "Aunt Lilong, stop right now."

"Buzz!"

A deep, ancient sword hum echoed, and the Divine Spirit Sword [Years] floated up, its profound and ancient sword intent enveloping Wang Lilong.

In the hazy shadows, a white-haired, white-robed man appeared faintly, his deep voice saying, "Little Azure Dragon, Anye asked you to stop."

With Wang Anye's current strength, he couldn't even wield one ten-thousandth of Years' power. The sword was barely driven by the residual energy accumulated by its spirit artifact, Ji Wuchen's remnant soul, but it still couldn't fully unleash its true power.

Only when Wang Anye reached the Divine Realm would the Divine Spirit Artifact truly shine. However, even now, with Ji Wuchen's help, he could already contend with ordinary Celestial Realm cultivators.

Wang Lilong blinked her dragon eyes, curiously looking at Years. "A talking sword? Are you the powerful Divine Spirit Artifact from the human stories told by Ancestor Dragon? I didn't expect Brother Anye, who looks so weak, to have a Divine Spirit Artifact."

"Call me Anye... Aunt Lilong." Wang Anye felt a headache coming on.

The Basalt families were very particular about seniority. Although he was the direct descendant of the Wang Clan, he couldn't mess up the seniority.

Great-grandfather's concerns were indeed justified. Aunt Lilong still had a wild nature, and who knew what trouble she would cause if no one was watching. But Aunt Lilong was so fierce, and it was quite stressful for Wang Anye to be responsible for watching over her.

"However, Anye, you're too young to understand the terror of a seventh-grade great demon." Wang Lilong's aura shifted, and a fierce pressure surged forth. "Do you think you can suppress me, a Yuan Shui Azure Dragon, with just this broken sword? Awooo~"

Her fierce appearance was quite intimidating, but paired with her pretty little dress and pink backpack, she looked adorably silly.

In fact, she really liked this dress, not only because it was pretty but also because her mother had personally sewn it for her, stitch by stitch.

As a wild-born Yuan Shui Azure Dragon, she had never experienced such warm family affection except for occasionally listening to Ancestor Dragon's stories.

Therefore, Wang Lilong tried hard to restrain herself from revealing her true form, afraid of ruining the dress.

"Aunt Lilong, let's not play anymore." Wang Anye couldn't help but chuckle at her "super fierce" look but had to maintain a serious demeanor. "Great-grandfather said if Aunt Lilong misbehaves, I should recite the Stomach-Bursting Curse."

"Stomach-Bursting Curse?" Wang Lilong shivered, her dragon eyes blinking. "Is it like the Tightening Spell?"

During these warm days of fatherly love and filial piety, Wang Shouzhe had told her many stories. No child in the family could escape the fate of being told stories.

"That's right. Great-grandfather said that if I recite the curse, Aunt Lilong's belly would burst." Wang Anye's pure and innocent eyes looked curiously at Wang Lilong. "Actually, I'm quite curious. Should we give it a try?"

Try?

Try your big head!

Wuwu~ Father actually taught the Stomach-Bursting Curse to little Anye. How despicable. How would she dominate the Clan School in the future?

Thinking of that terrifying scene, Wang Lilong immediately retracted her "man-eating" aura, turning into a harmless appearance, floating over to Wang Anye and rubbing against him. "Brother Anye, was I fierce just now? Actually, I was just joking with you~~ Here, have a piece of third-grade spiritual beef jerky with cumin flavor."

She reluctantly offered her favorite spiritual food, a large piece.

Her mother had put it in her backpack, saying it could be used to make friends with classmates in case of conflicts. This should be how it was used, right?

"Thank you, Aunt Lilong, but I've already had breakfast." Wang Anye, seeing her relent, put away the Divine Spirit Sword "Years" and said calmly, "It's getting late. We need to hurry to the Clan School. If we're late, the teacher will punish us."

Due to the system, the teachers at the Clan School had significant authority. Regardless of whether you were the eldest son of the Wang Clan or a child of a tenant farmer, everyone was treated equally. Those who deserved punishment were punished, and those who deserved a beating were not spared.

Moreover, they could report to the Clan Leader.

Even someone as mischievous as Aunt Yingxuan, who constantly opposed the teachers, was eventually brought down by a "report."

However, Wang Anye was very well-behaved at the Clan School. Not only was he a good student, but he was also handsome, gentle, and elegant, making him a beloved figure among both female classmates and teachers.

"Got it, got it. I can't wait to go to the Clan School." Wang Lilong nonchalantly shook her whiskers.

In fact, Wang Lilong quite liked Wang Anye. This boy, who was "about the same age" as her, had a pure and sunny aura. Otherwise, with her personality, she wouldn't have given Wang Anye any face.

While talking, Wang Anye led Wang Lilong onto the back of the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle and took out some spiritual food to feed the old turtle. "Grandpa Turtle, don't mind it. Aunt Lilong was just joking with you."

"Yes, yes, just joking~"

Wang Lilong looked at the plump Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle beneath her, secretly swallowing her saliva.

A domesticated spiritual beast was indeed plump. Look at the meat on its legs, so plump that it could barely retract into its shell. She really wanted to take a bite.

The spiritual turtles in the Great Marsh were as cunning as monkeys, hard to catch, and their meat was tough and stringy, nowhere near as tender as this one. Unfortunately, no matter how plump, it couldn't be eaten.

After initially enjoying the warmth of family life, Wang Lilong had now learned to "consider" things. As the saying goes, "acting on impulse feels good for a moment, but the consequences are severe."

Sigh~ Being a guardian spiritual beast was really troublesome. There were so many restrictions.

Wang Lilong licked her lips, just imagining the tender taste of the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle made her almost unable to resist. Forget it~ She would eat some beef jerky to satisfy her craving.

"Crunch~ Crunch~"

Wang Lilong stuffed the beef jerky into her mouth, chewing sweetly while staring at the Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle.

The poor Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle was so scared that its soul almost left its body.

Listening to the crisp chewing sound and feeling the predatory gaze on its back, as if it was about to be dismembered, its legs trembled, and even its favorite spiritual food jerky lost its flavor.

Too, too terrifying~

It never dreamed that one day it would be stared at as a meal. With this little ancestor around, its future days would be filled with anxiety.

Finally, trembling with fear, it delivered the seventh young master and the little ancestor to the dock outside the Clan School. The Yuan Shui Spirit Turtle immediately dove into the deep water, burying itself in the mud, and didn't come out for a long time.

……

Today's Clan School was destined to be anything but peaceful.

Even though the headmaster and teachers had long known that a dragon would be attending school and had held meetings to discuss how to make her feel the warmth of the Clan School, they were still shocked when they saw the dragon in a pretty dress.

It was said that her name was Wang Lilong, and she was the adopted daughter of the Wang Clan's head and his wife. The teachers repeatedly recalled the plans they had made, while also feeling infinite admiration for the clan leader couple. Were they giving them some excitement because they thought their work was too easy?

The children of the Wang Clan's direct line always had extreme personalities, either extremely obedient or extremely mischievous. They hoped this dragon would be the former.

However, within a stick of incense, the teachers were in despair.

This adopted daughter named "Wang Lilong" was the biggest challenge since the establishment of the Clan School. While others sat, she insisted on floating. When the teacher scolded her, she sprayed water in his face. When asked to stand outside as punishment, she threatened to eat the teacher.

At lunch, she took half of her classmates' meals, leaving them hungry.

In the afternoon, she threatened and extorted fifteen classmates, taking their copper coins and small change because she heard they could be used to buy snacks.

Of course, she didn't spend the money in the end because she found it easier to rob the Clan School's snack shop.

Poor Wang Anye didn't have a moment of peace all day, constantly cleaning up her messes and bearing responsibilities far beyond his years.

The teachers couldn't help but wonder if the Wang Clan's mistress was taking revenge for her granddaughter Wang Yingxuan's previous punishment.

……

Let's not mention Wang Lilong's "happy life" at the Clan School for now.

The Wang Clan's development in the outer regions was progressing steadily. Using [Xin'an Town] as the center, they focused on developing a 1,500-mile radius area.

In this vast region, the Wang Clan displayed great ambition.

The area was large enough to accommodate three to four garrison towns, which would exponentially increase the Wang Clan's foundation. Although the Wang Clan would still be a sixth-grade family, their deep foundation would far exceed that of ordinary fifth-grade families.

However, the Wang Clan's ambition to claim such a large territory was challenging. The main issue was not anything else but population.

The Wang Clan's direct and collateral members now numbered over a hundred, but many were spouses brought into the family and a large number of children.

The core strength capable of taking on significant responsibilities was still lacking.

Therefore, the Wang Clan adhered to its consistent strategy of uniting with members of the marriage alliance for joint development. This approach not only shared the investment and accelerated the development process but also helped the allied families grow and prosper.

The world was vast, and the Wang Clan didn't need to monopolize everything. The growth and strength of the marriage alliance would, in turn, bring enormous benefits to the Wang Clan in the future.

Wang Shouzhe's strategy of "sharing the wealth" was unanimously embraced by the marriage alliance.

The marriage alliance had been intermarrying for many years, and their blood ties were already very deep, making them "interconnected." This was the best guarantee of shared interests.

As a result, Wang Shouzhe's reputation in the Southern Six Garrisons had reached its peak, almost to the point of unrivaled influence.

Besides the large-scale development, an elite team had ventured deep into the outer regions, thousands of miles away from Ping'an Town.

The team was small, with only about twenty members, including sixteen Lingtai Realm family guards and Wang Clan members undergoing training.

One of the female family guards, Ouyang Muqiu, had volunteered to join. She was the granddaughter of Ouyang Junyan, who had followed Wang Luo Qiu from the beginning.

She originally had only lower-grade A-level aptitude, but during her grandfather Ouyang Junyan's fiftieth birthday, she was fortunate to be remembered by Wang Luo Qiu, who later enrolled her in the Wang Clan School. She performed well and eventually passed the assessment to join the Wang Clan's family guard team. At eighteen, Wang Luo Qiu, out of old affection, gave her a Xisui Dan, helping her break through her bloodline limitations and reach middle-grade C-level aptitude.

From then on, Ouyang Muqiu's fate was completely changed.

Her middle-grade C-level aptitude allowed her to stand out among the family guards. With her diligent work and efforts, she quickly rose through the ranks and finally, at thirty-eight, advanced to the Lingtai Realm by preemptively using a Tianling Dan.

She had grown up listening to Luo Qiu's stories, and her name carried special meaning. Having received such a great favor from Luo Qiu, Ouyang Muqiu's admiration for her was almost fanatical.

When she heard that Wang Luojing and Wang Luo Qiu would lead the exploration of the outer regions, she volunteered to join, just to have the chance to follow Luo Qiu.

Venturing into the outer regions was extremely dangerous.

Even though Wang Zongchang had already explored the area, there were still significant risks.

However, the journey had been unusually smooth. Under the hands of the academy prodigies Wang Luo Qiu and Wang Luojing, even fifth-grade fierce beasts couldn't last half a stick of incense.

In terms of aptitude, cultivation, and age, Luo Qiu and Luojing were similar to Wang An'nan of the Daqian Wang Clan. But don't forget, they had secretly fought on the outer region battlefield.

Their strength was far beyond that of the young generation in the imperial capital who had never seen blood or experienced brutal combat.

To put it bluntly, either of them could go to the imperial capital and defeat all the "Top Ten Outstanding Youths," except for the great prodigy Wu Zhixing.

Wang Luo Qiu had just violently punched a fourth-grade fierce beast's head, as if brushing off a speck of dust.

She stood with her hands behind her back, her yellow Basalt battle attire fluttering in the wind, looking into the distance with a calm expression, seemingly lost in thought.

Ouyang Muqiu, while collecting the spoils, secretly glanced at Wang Luo Qiu's heroic figure, blushing from time to time.

How wonderful it would be to follow Miss Luo Qiu forever?

But she didn't know that all of Wang Luo Qiu's thoughts were focused on breaking through the Divine Martial training route as soon as possible.

The new barracks had Primary Bloodline Improvement Elixir, and this Divine Martial training point might also have something to improve bloodline aptitude. If she could obtain it, her bloodline aptitude might improve further.

She couldn't wait to enter the training point and seek the opportunity to become a great prodigy.

Once she became a great prodigy, the first thing she would do was go to Guilong City and defeat the so-called "Top Ten Outstanding Youths."

Then she would see how capable Emperor Longchang was and whether he could be a reference for her imperial path.

Thinking of this, Wang Luo Qiu's heart burned with passion.

……

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed, and another season of winter turning to spring had arrived.

With the Wang Clan's support, Anbei Garrison had developed exceptionally well over the past few months, with lush greenery everywhere.

Although Commandery Prince An's influence was not as strong as Commandery Prince Kang's, as a royal great prodigy and a quasi-imperial heir, he could still attract many talents.

If it was just about attracting people to migrate, a single call from him could draw many commoners, including branches of eighth and ninth-grade, and even seventh-grade families.

As a continuous stream of people migrated, they brought a vast amount of labor, and large tracts of sandy land were reclaimed.

The high-quality seeds brought by the Wang Clan were planted and successfully adapted to Anbei Garrison's sandy soil, growing well.

Anbei Garrison was increasingly taking shape.

Seeing his "ideal country" gradually becoming a reality, Commandery Prince An felt like he was living in a dream, floating with excitement.

In his excitement, he spent almost all his time with Wang Zong'an and other agricultural experts, discussing topics like water conservancy planning, intercropping of pearl rice and cumin for better space utilization, optimizing fertilization for jade crystal grapes, and scaling up the winemaking process.

A group of experts researching technology together often worked from morning to night, sometimes forgetting to eat.

In short, the men were full of energy.

Only Commandery Princess Gongye Qingrui had been left alone for several months.

One day, her personal maid, Qiner, hurried back.

Gongye Qingrui's face lit up with hope as she grabbed Qiner and asked, "Qiner, how is it? I heard that the Commandery Prince's water conservancy plans are almost complete. He should come home to rest for a few days, right?"

Qiner bowed and reported, "Your Highness, the Commandery Prince said he would be spending the night with Young Clan Leader Zong'an, discussing important matters like opening sales channels for [Jade Crystal Wine] and establishing brand image."

Qiner didn't understand what the Commandery Prince said, so she just repeated it verbatim.

"Spending the night? That dog... Hmph~" Gongye Qingrui almost fainted from anger. "Can this life go on? Where's Jun'er? Call Jun'er to bring that old man back home."

"Well... Your Highness, the Little Commandery Prince is also at Young Clan Leader Zong'an's courtyard. He said he is very interested in what Young Clan Leader Zong'an said about brand building and wants to join in the research..." Qiner replied weakly.

"Hiss~~"

Gongye Qingrui took a sharp breath, clutching her chest as she almost fainted. Her obedient eldest son, Jun'er, had also been ensnared? It seemed her entire family had been drawn to the Wang Clan.

What kind of bewitching potion had the Wang Clan given them? How could they all be so mesmerized, not even returning home? Could this life go on?

……

A few days later.

A plain-looking maid entered Wang Zong'an's study, bowed, and said, "Subordinate greets the Young Immortal Lord."

Young Immortal Lord.

Even though Wang Zong'an had heard this title many times, his thoughts still felt a bit scattered. What kind of terrifying and strange organization had his father secretly established?

What was the future plan? To dominate the court? Or to establish a new empire?

And he, Wang Zong'an, had gone from being the Young Clan Leader to the Young Immortal Lord... Was he destined to become a Young Imperial Heir in the future?

"Speak, my father..." Wang Zong'an began.

But before he could finish, the maid interrupted him with a fervent tone, "Young Lord, please be cautious with your words. That is the Immortal Lord."

"Alright, what instructions does the Immortal Lord have?" Wang Zong'an was already somewhat accustomed to the fervor of the Palace of Immortals members, but he still found it hard to adapt.

"To avoid drawing attention, the Immortal Lord sent a simple message. He said, 'It's time to start the second phase.'"

"The second phase?" Wang Zong'an's eyes grew serious, and he nodded. "I understand. You may leave."

"Yes, Young Immortal Lord."

The maid quietly withdrew.

Soon, she disappeared from the Commandery Prince's household, like a drop of water merging into the sea, leaving no trace.

Wang Zong'an stood in his study, hands behind his back, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Finally, it was time for Young Clan Leader Zong'an to make his mark.

Father, Mother, I will prove to you that I, Wang Zong'an, will also become the pride of your hearts!

……