Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

The long convoy passed through the city gate.

Most of the houses on both sides were made of stone, while the central street was slightly indented.

It was said that in the former "Lake-Center City," the connections between districts were not streets, but waterways... It sounds very much like the style of the Jiaolong, but the Qilin definitely wouldn’t like this environment, which is why a large-scale urban renovation was later undertaken to convert many canals into streets, and ponds were drained and planted with flowers and plants favored by the Horned Clan.

Long Long stealthily peeked out through the gap in the carriage curtain and saw that most of the residents around the road belonged to the Horned Clan, but there were also many from other races.

Among them were Horned Clan cultivators wearing extravagantly large golden horn ornaments, strutting up and down the streets with spears in hand.

These were the capital’s garrison guards, entirely composed of pure-blooded members of the Horned Clan, and none of their paternal or maternal ancestors for three generations were allowed to be of other races—precisely because they valued lineage over capability, these garrison troops were highly corrupt, and the capital’s residents mockingly called them "bigheads," ridiculing their fondness for showing off their horns.

Seeing Crown Prince Qi Qiao’an leading the group in front, the "bighead" captain hurried over, a fat and roly-poly member of the Deer Race named Lu Zhong, who approached sweating profusely and said:

"Unaware of Your Highness’s outing, this humble official has committed a sin..."

"Go drive those lowly people away for me," Qi Qiao’an ordered, pointing ahead.

Lu Zhong immediately barked at his subordinates to brutally disperse the onlookers around them.

A few who moved slowly were poked with spears by the "bigheads" and instantly died on the spot; their bodies were quickly dragged away...Untransformed demons, regardless of their intelligence, were all without the most basic human rights protections.

After a dozen or so breaths, the road ahead was thoroughly cleared, and no bystanders dared to linger there any longer. Explore more stories with NovelBin.Côm

The convoy still moved at a leisurely pace, with Long Long and Long Hu looking out at the outside world from the carriage, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with each other.

Both had recently transformed and had not yet developed the discriminatory thinking of the transformed cultivators, which deemed untransformed beings as insignificant as weeds. Seeing these small, untransformed demons being wantonly slaughtered by the "bigheads", they felt a subconscious empathy and distress.

Suddenly, a deep whooshing sound arose.

"Be careful!" the Kunlun Mirror cried out in alarm, only to see Great Elder Qin Chaocang suddenly grabbing Long Long, pushing both him and Long Hu to the ground, while with his other hand, he made a pushing motion forwards.

The wall of the carriage ahead exploded suddenly, and a bluish light surged toward the Great Elder’s palm... However, in the Great Elder’s hand, a long sword had somehow appeared, and he heavily slashed through the center of the bluish brilliance.

A huge explosive shockwave spread out in all directions, and the four Dragon Clan guards closest to the blast had their limbs shattered on the spot, while the guards further away managed to use their Divine Skills in time, blocking the remnants of the explosion at the cost of severe injuries.

More shockwaves blasted through the gaps between the guards, instantly leveling houses in two districts along with the residents inside.

Qi Qiao’an, who was walking at the very front, was also shielded behind several Horned Clan guards who desperately protected him, luckily emerging unscathed.

When he climbed up from the ground with a frightened expression, looking around at the hellish desolation, he couldn’t help but scream in terror.

.........

That evening, Long Long and Long Hu were accommodated in the underground palace at the base of the Divine Dragon Tower.

This place was located underground and guarded by heavy troops from the Qilin Clan, leaving no possibility of being assassinated again.

Inside the Divine Emperor’s Hall, Qi Weihuan erupted in furious rage, giving a death order to the garrison captain Lu Zhong to find the origins of the assassin.

About half an hour later, a preliminary report of the incident was presented on the Emperor’s desk. @@novelbin@@

The assassin had already met a grisly end, the place where the crime was committed was determined to be behind the chimney on the rooftop of the "Canoe Tavern" in the outer city district. From there, one would have a perfect view of the Dragon Clan’s envoy convoy on the street below.

The murder weapon was identified as the "Fenhai Pochao Crossbow," a Magical Treasure known for its formidable power. The more True Yuan injected, the greater the force it would unleash. If a Golden Core Cultivator were to operate it at full power, it could even kill a Demon King in its True Body.

The most baffling aspect was that the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow was a Magical Treasure of the Human Race from the ancient times, crafted specifically to counter the mighty physical bodies of the Demon Race. After the Demon Race withdrew from the Eastern Emperor Realm, the whereabouts of the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow became unknown among the Human Race.

The assassin was a member of the Feathered Clan, and the guards speculated that at the time of committing the crime, the assassin likely had their back to the street below, turned their head to confirm the carriage’s position, then pressed the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow against their own chest, aligning the crossbow, themselves, and the carriage into a straight line, swiftly filling it with all their True Yuan.

The crossbow arrow unleashed in the explosion tore through both the assassin’s body and the carriage. Had it not been for the Great Elder, Qin Chaocang, being inside the carriage and cleaving through the crossbow arrow with his Magic Sword, facing it head-on, and given the just-transformed physical strength of Long Long and Long Hu, they would undoubtedly have been reduced to dust as well.

One only needed to look at the nearby two blocks that were leveled by the blast to understand the carnage.

The only evidence obtained so far was the residual True Yuan of the Feathered Clan Cultivator found within the body of the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow, and the Cultivator’s flesh and blood were found near the crossbow as well. This led the guards to ascertain the assassin’s race.

As for their exact identity, since they were reduced to ashes, it was naturally impossible to know.

All the questions about how they came to possess the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow, and why they wanted to assassinate the Dragon Clan envoy convoy… all clues were lost with the death of the assassin.

After reading the incident report, Qi Weihuan flew into a rage and had Lu Zhong dragged away and lashed a hundred and fifty times. Only after doing this did he turn to the Azure Dragon Clan Leader, Qin Beiwang, who had observed the whole process, and said:

"This matter, I suspect, was the doing of the remnants of the South State’s Feathered Clan. If Long Long and Long Hu had died in the imperial capital, the Dragon Clan would have mistaken it for the handiwork of my Qilin Clan. Then, with war erupting between Central State and Eastern State, they in South State could eke out an existence, stealing a chance for survival... Such despicable deeds are truly contemptible!"

Qin Beiwang, with an expressionless face, listened and nodded in agreement, saying:

"Indeed, should they hope to use this to sow discord between the two clans, the Feathered Clan truly miscalculated!"

Both reviled the South State’s Feathered Clan with shared animosity as if the real culprit had been definitively identified. Qi Weihuan repeatedly emphasized that he would most certainly provide the Dragon Clan with an explanation for the casualties suffered this time. Only then did Qin Beiwang express his thanks and depart.

Only after Qin Beiwang had left did Qi Weihuan’s face grow cold, his gaze piercing through the palace gates towards the distance.

Who really staged this assassination?

First of all, it couldn’t possibly be the Feathered Clan. Because if the perpetrator wasn’t found and both clans didn’t wish to develop animosity over this, they would certainly blame the Feathered Clan in the end... With or without evidence, the Feathered Clan was bound to take the fall, so there was even less need for the Feathered Clan assassin to perish together with their target.

Second, why assassinate Long Long and Long Hu?

Although these two were of Immortal Rank lineage, they had only recently undergone Transformation and posed no threat to any power.

To instigate a conflict between Central State and Eastern State? Also unlikely. Currently, the Qilin Clan had the support of the Xuanwu Clan and a marriage alliance with the White Tiger Clan. The Vermilion Bird Clan was not likely to wage a war in the short term, so unless the Azure Dragon Clan collectively lost their minds, they would not possibly engage in a conflict with the Qilin Clan.

They couldn’t afford such a cost and would ultimately have to accept the explanation given by the Qilin Clan, opting to calm the situation down.

Meaning, this assassination likely didn’t carry a political aim since the outcome was already predetermined.

However, to be able to acquire a Magical Treasure of the caliber of the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow and keep it hidden until now... and after the assassination, the Magical Treasure was inevitably left at the scene; this indicated that whoever was behind this had prepared to abandon the treasure.

It couldn’t be an ordinary Cultivator! There had to be a hidden force behind this, orchestrating the assassination.

To go as far as to sacrifice the Fenhai Pochao Crossbow just to kill Long Long and Long Hu... who could it be?!