Chapter 1047: Gongyang Qingrou of Ji Continent Arrives, Lu Ding First Hears of Lü Mountain in Demon Continent
......
Lu Ding smiled. "Alright, alright, that's a good idea. Hurry up and put it away."
Without comparison, there would be no gap.
As long as Lu Ding could turn the western region into an economic center while making it impenetrably secure.
Making money without compromising safety.
He wouldn't even need to actively seize the territories of the other three regions—east, south, and north—they would be squeezed to death on their own!!
But then again.
Right now, with insufficient funds and manpower, even if Lu Ding took over too much territory, he wouldn't be able to develop it all.
After all.
Just the western region alone had so many overlooked issues that needed handling.
So many mouths above and below were waiting for him to feed them.
If it weren't for the Great Han's Hundred-Year Ten Thousand Immortals Plan being rolled out, the western region's development would probably have been much slower, and the investigators' incomes would have been worlds apart.
Of course, Zhan Tingzhou's intelligence contributions as a local couldn't be ignored either.
Teamwork made everyone rich.
Nice.
Over here, the cleanup of the Zhutai Sacred Land was still underway. The place was too big, with too many things—needing to be dug up, moved, and searched through.
Over on the other side.
Gongyang Qingrou, the master of the Two-Straight Tower from Ji Continent, who had been traveling under the stars and moon, had finally arrived in the New City, in the western region.
Along the way.
She had used who knows how many translocation artifacts and talismans.
She had truly been advancing at full speed.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have made it to the New City so quickly.
Her efforts were by no means small.
Under normal circumstances, who knows how long it would have taken her to get here.
Entering the western region.
Following Lu Xiu's intelligence, she came straight to White Ridge 749 to find Lu Ding.
Then, the Deification Ninth Level was stopped by a gate guard at the Third Restriction mid-stage.
"Hello, is there something you need?"
Gongyang Qingrou said softly, "Please trouble you to announce me. Tell them that Gongyang Qingrou, a Qi Refiner at the Deification Ninth Level from Ji Continent, seeks an audience with Grand Duke Lu."
As soon as she said this.
The gate investigator was instantly frozen in place.
How much!?
De...Deification Ninth Level!!!!!!?
The investigator didn't know where Ji Continent was, but he had clearly heard the words "Deification Ninth Level."
For a moment, he even stammered as he spoke, "Pl...please... wait a moment. I'll announce you right away."
Turning around, he slammed into the doorframe, then rushed into the guard booth and made calls, going up layer by layer until he reached Lu Ding's phone.
Far away at the Zhutai Sacred Land, Lu Ding heard that someone had arrived from Ji Continent, a Deification Ninth Level, and they didn't have the surname Lu.
For a moment, he was puzzled.
He was sure he didn't know anyone like that.
The Great Han and Ji Continent were too far apart, with no contact between them.
So it couldn't be someone from the Great Han side; otherwise, Secretary Qiu would have called him too...
Since it had nothing to do with the Great Han, they must have learned about him after the Lu Family spread the news back home.
But it hadn't been that long since the Lu Family had sent someone.
Yet she had managed to get here so quickly.
Along the way, she must have traveled under the stars and moon at full speed... all to meet him as soon as possible...
Lu Ding wasn't brainless; he just didn't like to use his brain sometimes. Super strength was much easier than super intelligence.
But now, his super strength couldn't handle a Deification Ninth Level.
He had to activate his super intelligence.
Thinking this over, Lu Ding didn't immediately use [Celestial Shift] to return to White Ridge.
Instead, he sent a message.
Notifying the investigators at White Ridge 749 to take Gongyang Qingrou to the meeting room and have her start a video call.
Lu Ding wasn't stupid.
Faced with someone who had arrived with such urgency, if she had any bad intentions, with her Deification Ninth Level cultivation, going back would be like walking into a trap?!
By keeping the video call going.
If something seemed off, he could just use [Celestial Shift] to teleport straight back to the Great Han. If she had the ability, she could come to Hanjing and try to kill him.
Soon.
The video call connected.
Their eyes met.
Lu Ding sized up Gongyang Qingrou, and Gongyang Qingrou sized up Lu Ding.
After a long moment.
Gongyang Qingrou spoke. "You look somewhat like him."
Lu Ding asked, "Who?"
Gongyang Qingrou replied, "Lu Teng, of the Lu Family in Ji Continent."
The moment that name was spoken, Lu Ding couldn't help but show a look of physiological disgust.
It was a bit nauseating, folks.
Right now, he had almost no desire to continue the conversation.
"If he sent you here, then you can go back. This New City can't accommodate a great Buddha of the Deification Ninth Level."
Gongyang Qingrou smiled. "No, it has nothing to do with him. A few days ago, Lu Xiu came to me and asked me to send someone to kill you."
Lu Ding listened.
He leaned back in his seat. Black smoke coalesced, forming a Sin Dragon coiled around the chair. Lu Ding rested his hand on the dragon's head and looked at Gongyang Qingrou in the video. "So now you..."
She said, "I have a better relationship with him. I watched him grow up. The promise he made to me was an irresistible temptation."
"But I can't kill you."
"I also must not kill you, and I dare not kill you."
Lu Ding listened with curiosity. "A Deification Ninth Level can't kill me, must not kill me, and dares not kill me? Why? Afraid of the Lu Family?"
Gongyang Qingrou shook her head. "Afraid of Lü Mountain."
Lu Ding fell silent for a moment at this. Anyone in his position would have had a reaction this mild, at best.
The only connection he could think of between himself and Lü Mountain was the Crooked-Mouth Old Man.
And it had been so long since the Crooked-Mouth Old Man had come up here, and Lu Ding had made such a big stir, yet he had never heard any news about the old man, let alone seen him. Now that Lü Mountain had appeared.
It meant that there was finally some news from the Crooked-Mouth Old Man's side.
How could Lu Ding not pause to think for a moment?
But it was precisely this momentary silence.
That triggered Gongyang Qingrou's sensitive instincts as the leader of the Two-Straight Tower's assassins.
"It looks like you're somewhat surprised."
Gongyang Qingrou smiled. "Lu Ding, what I'm about to say next will count as you owing me a favor."
Lu Ding sat up straight. "If it's useful, then of course."
He also wanted to know about the Crooked-Mouth Old Man's situation.
Gongyang Qingrou began to speak. "Lü Mountain is located in the Demon Continent, an unparalleled overlord-level power in the Demon Continent, suppressing all the demons of an entire continent..."
She narrated the situation regarding Lü Mountain in the Demon Continent.
Lu Ding listened intently.
He truly hadn't expected that his old man's sect would be so terrifying.
Just hearing about the ferocious Demon Continent was scary enough, yet it was actually suppressed by a single sect like Lü Mountain. They were more ferocious than demons, even eating demons, refining demons, using demons as nourishment to strengthen themselves and their sect.
Finally.
Gongyang Qingrou dropped a bombshell.
"And your name is right there, on the last line of the Lü Mountain Demon Lord's True Inheritance Stele."
"So tell me, how could I dare to kill you!?"
"If I killed you, not only would I die, but the Two-Straight Tower would be destroyed. Lu Xiu, who sent me to kill you, would have no good outcome either. The Lu Family, implicated by him, would also be bloodily purged by Lü Mountain, cursed to death, and even their bloodline cursed, leaving them without descendants."
"On a small scale, for my own benefit, I must not kill you."
"On a large scale, for Lu Teng, the man I love, I also must not kill you."
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