Mark the Sign, Slay the Dragon Envoy

"So you're going to see that old scumbag?"

Su Muwan curled up barefoot on the rosewood armchair, her pale toes swaying slightly with the chair's movement.

Her shell-like rounded nails were adorned with tiny frostflower patterns.

According to Su Muwan, this was her own DIY manicure.

Just moments ago, she had learned about Long Dingtian's request.

Hearing her words,

Qin Luo adjusted his clothes while letting his gaze skim over the faint blue veins on her instep, clearing his throat lightly. "Didn't you wear the silk stockings I prepared for you today, young mistress?"

Snap!

A tiny icicle rod suddenly whipped against his calf. Su Muwan glared at him, the tips of her ears tinged pink. "Is that the point here? Get to the main topic already!"

With that,

she huffed, muttering under her breath, "You pervert."

Didn’t you even notice my manicure?

Plop.

Shadow energy wrapped around a ruler, molding it into a snowball. Qin Luo chuckled as he pulled her—chair and all—closer. "Long Aotian is the head of the Long family, and his master is the former Dragon King."

"Though none of that really matters, it’s still useful enough."

"Might as well toss them into the Shadow Organization as new recruits."

Su Muwan raised an eyebrow. "Wait, are you going there to heal him or to kill him?"

Can you believe this guy?

Planning to turn people into shadow creatures...

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for Long Dingtian and the others.

Qin Luo shrugged. "No choice. Long Aotian tried to forcibly break through before the spiritual revival and got struck by divine retribution. The backlash left incurable damage."

"Now that it’s flaring up, not even the gods can save him."

Su Muwan wasn’t buying it. She shot him a look. "You could definitely heal him if you wanted."

"Who knows?"

Qin Luo smirked before continuing, "This is the perfect chance to make Long Aotian step down and install Long Dingtian as the new head of the Long family in the royal city."

"It’ll be a big help for our plans later."

After all, the Long family was no small force.

With their influence over the entire military, Long Dingtian’s loyalty was guaranteed at 100%.

Su Muwan blinked. She didn’t fully understand, but—

"Just hurry back. I want beef hotpot for lunch!"

"Yes, young mistress."

Just as Qin Luo was about to leave,

Su Muwan suddenly called out, "Wait. I need to mark you first."

"??"

Qin Luo paused. "What kind of mark?"

The next second,

Su Muwan extended a finger and lightly tapped his wrist.

Hum!

A string of ice crystal beads materialized around his wrist, accompanied by a frost-patterned sigil glowing faintly on his skin.

Satisfied, she clapped her hands together and grinned. "There. Now you can go."

Qin Luo shook the bracelet lightly, amused.

This possessive young mistress of mine… utterly adorable.

---

Jiang City.

The moment Qin Luo stepped into Long Dingtian’s residence, the soul-calming bells hanging from the eaves shattered into dust.

He casually brushed off the golden flakes on his shoulder, the ice crystal bracelet chiming softly with the movement.

Well, well.

Though the bracelet was a gift from the young mistress, it still carried traces of her innate malice.

No wonder the protective charms broke the instant he walked in.

"Master Qin!"

Long Dingtian hurried over, gratitude shining in his eyes. "You’ve come!"

"Mn."

Qin Luo nodded faintly. "The young mistress ordered me here, so I’ll do my best to treat him."

"Many thanks to Lady Su!"

Long Dingtian was moved.

But then he hesitated. "Master Qin, just earlier, envoys from the royal city arrived."

"Three Dragon Envoys from the Dragon King Palace!"

"They don’t seem friendly."

Dragon Envoys?

Qin Luo thought for a moment before remembering.

Ah, right. Back when they dealt with Xiao Tian, one of them had shown up—only to be instantly crushed by Su Muwan’s grandfather.

Shaking his head, he replied, "No matter. Lead the way."

Long Dingtian nodded. "Master Qin, the three Dragon Envoys are in the main—"

Before he could finish,

"HAHAHAHA!!"

"I thought Su Muwan herself would come!"

"Turns out we overestimated you!"

A wild laugh tore through the air.

Then—

BOOM!

Three towering dragon-carved pillars slammed into the ground, kicking up dust.

Qin Luo looked up.

Three figures radiating immense pressure stood atop the pillars. One of them toyed with Long Aotian’s family head token, sneering at Long Dingtian.

"Long Aotian actually thought of passing the headship to a bastard like you? What a joke!"

"The Dragon King is past his prime. First, he wasted five years grooming Xiao Tian, only for Su Muwan to toss him into the ocean for shark food."

"Now he wants to raise another brat to take over…"

Tch.

Blue flames flickered at his fingertips, scorching the token as he roared, "The era of spiritual revival is here! Why should we waste any more time on that old fool?"

"If he wants some rookie to lead the Dragon King Palace—fine!"

"Then you'll have to get through my Blazing Heaven Force first!! See if it agrees!"

With that,

The man pointed at Qin Luo and sneered, "Brat, we know you're here to heal Long Aotian!"

"But we won't allow it. Since you've come, you might as well stay—"

Crack—!

"Annoying."

Before he could finish,

Qin Luo flicked the ice-crystal chain on his wrist, and a surge of frost energy erupted.

In an instant, ice lotuses bloomed around the speaker, freezing him into a kneeling position.

His mouth hung open, pupils trembling in shock, clearly unaware of what had just happened.

Then,

Qin Luo snapped his fingers. Gurgle—!

Dark shadows seeped through the icy cracks, staining the frozen statue ink-black—turning it into a shadow puppet on the spot!

Whoosh!

"I'm in a hurry."

Qin Luo stepped onto the puppet's head and leaped onto the coiled dragon pillar, then cast a disdainful glance at the remaining two Dragon Envoys. "Come at me together."

The two Dragon Envoys: !!!

Their pupils shrank violently.

They had no idea how Qin Luo had even made his move.

Ice?

Frost energy?

Wasn’t that Su Muwan’s legendary power?

Why could Qin Luo use it too?

And what was that afterward?

Shadows?

What kind of power was that? Why had their comrade turned into... that thing?

The two didn’t understand. They only knew one thing:

This so-called "lackey" of Su Muwan wasn’t weak at all!

After a moment of hesitation,

They exchanged a glance and made the wisest decision possible.

Which was...

"Run!!"

Without delay, they unleashed all their spiritual energy and fled in opposite directions.

Seeing this,

Qin Luo smirked. "Hmph... Trying to escape?"

Whoosh!

With a wave of his right hand, twelve ice needles shot from the ice-crystal chain on his wrist.

They streaked straight toward one of the fleeing figures.

Squelch!

A scream echoed as the man exploded into a mist of blood.

The other Dragon Envoy thought he had narrowly escaped—

Squelch!

"Guh—!"

A shadowy rope coiled around his neck and yanked him into the air.

"Dragon Envoy?"

Qin Luo scoffed and snapped his fingers.

"Just maggots."

Boom!

As the shadows surged,

The other two were also transformed into shadow creatures.

Long Dingtian stared, dumbfounded.

Elder Qin...

You never mentioned you were this terrifyingly powerful!

Qin Luo drifted leisurely back to Long Dingtian’s side. "Let’s go."

"Time to see your father."

"R-right!"